A Different Day for Destiny
by NeverEndingSugarHigh
Summary: What if Dally came to get Johnny and Pony a day earlier? Meaning that there was no fire at the church? Johnny is taken to a different hideout, but Pony goes back home. Mostly about Pony and his brothers. My first fic, so please be nice and review!
1. Back Home

**Pony's POV**

We were so engrossed in Gone with the Wind that we were oblivious to the sound of an engine shutting down and then the slam of a car door. But when we heard the whistle, we were aware of everything. Johnny and me jumped up when Dally walked into the old church.

It was only Thursday. Earlier than Dallas said he would be here. But I'm not complaining. The sooner I get out of this place, the better. I just was kind of anxious to hear what Dally said. He might say that the cops will be here in a matter of seconds. Or he'll say that we're free to go. But I didn't care what happened. I wanted out of this place!

"What are you two Greasers doing hiding out in an abandoned church, eh?" he smirked. "And better yet, what happened to your guys' hair?"

"We tried disguising ourselves," Johnny answered quietly. "We may not look tuff, but we had to do it."

"Well, you sure don't look like yourselves anymore," Dally replied. He kept staring at my hair like it was some strange object.

Trying to distract him, I asked quickly, "What's going on with the cops man?"

He smiled dangerously, "Hauled me into the station for questioning. Couldn't blame them. Some dead Soc, I must have had some connection to it… When I was there I kind of let it out that you guys were headed to Texas," he smiled at his genius idea. "So they're all out looking in Texas, figured I had me a good time to steal away and see ya'll. Not only have the cops been watching me- the gang's been pretty suspicious of me. I told them I didn't know where you were, but they knew I was lying…"

He suddenly reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, "Gotta letter for you Pony."

I was shocked, "Who from?"

"President of the United States…" He smirked again. "You're brother Sodapop."

"Soda? How'd he know where I was?" Glory, I was happy to have some type of communication with my brother. I sure missed him an awful lot.

Dally lit up a cigarette before answering me. "Came over to Buck's a couple days ago and saw that shirt of yours. I told him I had no idea where you were, but he didn't believe me. Gave me that to give you…" he shook his head slowly. "Kid, you oughta see Darry and Soda. They both look horrible…"

I started to read Soda's letter. It said how much he missed me and wished I would come home. He then started talking about Darry and how sorry he was an all of that. I read it over several times. It made me want to go home even more.

When I came back to reality, Dallas and Johnny were deep in a discussion. Johnny was saying quietly, "We're gonna turn ourselves in."

Dally looked like he had been splashed with water. "What? You wanna go to jail? Johnny, I can't let you do that."

"Well, what else are we supposed to do? We can't stay here forever…"

"That's why I came today, Johnny. I got you another place to stay for a while. It's a lot better than this shit-hole," Dally explained. "You can stay there for as long as it takes for all of this to blow over. Trust me, Johnnycakes."

Johnny sighed in defeat, and then replied, "All right. But… is it safe for Pony to go back? I mean- he's got Soda and Darry worrying about him. He didn't do nothing and can't go to jail…"

I looked over to Johnny, questioningly. He just answered by looking at me with those dark eyes of his. He didn't want me to have to hide all my life. But I wasn't sure I wanted to leave him all alone to deal with this.

Dallas finally gave in and said, "Okay. I'll take Pony back home and bring you to the new place. The only thing is Pony," he looked at me, "you can't know where we're going that way both you and Johnny will be safe from the police."

I nodded my consent, and we walked out to the car. Nothing we had was worth taking except for Gone with the Wind. I realized that it was Buck Merrill's T-Bird. We climbed in and Dally pushed the pedal to the floor. We were going so fast it made you wonder if we were in a drag race or something. But it just meant that I was going to get home that much sooner.

Dally and Johnny was holding a conversation, but I was completely tuned out. I was too busy worrying about what it was going to be like when I get home. What am I going to do about Darry? What will I say to him? Vice versa? I was worrying so much that it wasn't making me feel too hot on an empty stomach filled with nothing but cigarette smoke.

When we got closer to town, Dallas reached into his jacket and pulled out a pair of dark sunglasses and handed them to Johnny. He then told us, "I didn't tell ya'll, the Socs and us are having an all-out warfare all over the city. That kid you killed had plenty of friends," Johnny kind of paled when he said that. "And all over the town it's Soc against Grease. We can't walk alone, Two-Bit almost got jumped yesterday, but Darry and me were close behind…" he seemed to take a deep breath, "I started carrying me a heater."

"Dal!" Johnny exclaimed, "You kill people with heaters!"

Dallas looked over at him and stated, "You kill them with blades too!" Johnny grew even paler, and Dallas quickly recovered, "It ain't loaded. I'm not aiming to get picked up for murder. But it sure does help a bluff… Tim Shepard's gang and us are having it out with the Socs Saturday night at the vacant lot."

Dally paused for a moment and then must have realized something else, "Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you that we got us a spy."

"Who?" Johnny asked.

"That good-looking red-head that I tried to pick up the night you killed the Soc. Cherry what's-her-face," he stated.

Johnny and me both gasped. But I recovered first, "Why's a Soc helping us?"

Dally smiled in that dangerous way of his. "She drove up to the lot in that little Stingray of hers and starts talking to us. Says that the whole thing was her fault, which is truth enough, and that she'd keep an eye on the Socials and tell us if anything starts up. Even said that she'd testify for you that the Socs were drunk when they attacked you and that it was only self-defense… I tried to ask her to go to the Dingo with me but she told me to go to Hell." He let out what must have been a laugh.

When he said that I remembered what Cherry had told me after the Drive-In. I wondered how she felt about it now that Bob was dead. But I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts.

We were now driving through town, but Dally wasn't taking any of the busy roads and Johnny kept his head down, and he was kind of slouched in his seat. I doubted anybody would recognize me with my new blonde hair.

Next thing I knew, we were pulling up in front of my house. I climbed out of the T-Bird and gave Johnny something. It was Gone with the Wind. I told him, "Finish it and tell me how it goes."

He smiled up at me briefly. "See ya later, Pony."

"Yeah. See ya," I stood there and watched as they drove off, wondering if I would ever see Johnny Cade again. I shook my head ridding myself of such a horrible thought. I turned and walked up the steps slowly. The truck wasn't parked out front, so Darry couldn't be home. But Soda might be, or any of the gang.

I pulled the door open and walked in. Nobody was in the living room. "Hello?" I called. No answer. Looking at the clock I saw that it was only three-thirty. Soda wouldn't be home till five, and Darry till six.

I took off Dallas' leather jacket and tossed it on the couch. I was looking around the room when my eye noticed something. The newspaper was lying on Darry's armchair, but it was opened with the headline, **No Progress in Murder Case**. I picked it up and read the story, which was about Bob's murder.

What surprised me most was the fact that there was a Soc, Randy, who was also saying that we fought in self-defense. That's two Socials vouching for us Greasers. It was better than nothing.

After laying the paper back down, I walked down the hall. It would be a while to before somebody showed up, so I decided to take a shower. When I stepped into the water, and turned the hot water on, it felt wonderful. The water dropped onto my skin and washed away all of the grime I'd accumulated from being in that church. When I was thoroughly refreshed, I dressed in clean jeans and one of my own shirts. But it seemed to hang off of me; I thought it funny since it used to fit real well. It could actually show off the little muscle that I have.

Standing in front of the mirror with some hair grease sitting on the sink, I was attempting to make my hair look better. I started combing it and slathering on a good amount of grease. By the time I was done, it looked a little better, but man, it made my ears stick out something horrible. Oh well…

Walking out of the bathroom, I noticed that it was almost five o'clock. I figured it would be a good idea to start up dinner. That way Soda wouldn't be able to add any food coloring, and it would be done by the time Darry got home. I pulled some chicken out of the fridge and put it in a pan and slid it into the oven. It was going to take them a while to cook, so I poured me a glass of chocolate milk and sat down at the kitchen table.

I didn't realize how tired I was until I sat down. I hadn't been able to sleep a lot in the last few days. Who could? That floor in the church was hard and uncomfortable, but I was always constantly thinking and worrying. Trying to fully comprehend what had happened to get me out there in an abandoned church, wanted by the police. But I'm pretty sure Johnny wasn't sleeping either.

My head was starting to droop pretty bad, so I turned the timer on to wake me up, and dragged my feet towards my room. I dropped onto the bed, remembering what an actual bed felt like.

I lay down, only going to rest my eyes for a few minutes, but as soon as my eyes closed, I was out like a light.


	2. Brothers Again

**A/N: **Okay, I was completely lost last time and didn't understand how to make notes, but here it is. Please know that the first few chapters will be kind of boring, and there will be some references to lines from the book. You all know which ones those are, hopefully.

Also know that my brother likes to use bodily force to remove me from this computer, so I don't have the greatest conditions to write and update. So if there are days when I'm not on, don't be alarmed.

**Disclaimer: **Sometimes it feels as if The Outsiders _own me_. Enough said?

**Soda's POV**

It was later than usual by the time I got home from work. I'd had to stay late to help Steve with some car that was being a problem. When I stepped in the door, I immediately noticed the scent of baking food.

It was a big surprise since Darry's truck wasn't here yet- besides it was still too early for him to be home. Just as I stepped into the kitchen, the timer went off. I turned it off and looked in the oven. Chicken. It looked done, so I turned the oven off, but left the pan in there to keep it warm.

I stepped back out into the living room to make sure nobody was home. But I saw that Dallas' leather jacket was draped across the couch. We hadn't seen him wear it since the night Johnny and Pony disappeared… My stomach tightened. Something was going on here.

Walking down the hallway, I saw that the mirror was still fogged over a bit. Somebody had taken a shower a while ago. I licked my lips nervously. What happened?

I pushed the door to Darry's room open and saw that it too was empty. Like I said, he couldn't be home. But I was soon standing in front of the last door in the hall: the door to Pony's and my room.

I pushed it open slightly and peered in. And about jumped out of my skin. Some blonde-haired kid was sleeping in my bed! He was lying on his stomach, so I couldn't see the face. Not recognizing anyone that is might be, I pulled my blade out from my back pocket. Normally Darry didn't like Pony and me carrying blades, but since Johnny killed that Soc, things had changed- and you could never be too careful.

I started to step quietly over to the bed. Soon I was standing next to the person, who judging by his size was just a kid. I reached my hand out (the one without the blade) and grabbed his shoulder, then pushed him over onto his back and the kid's eyes opened.

Realizing whom it was, I was shocked so bad I couldn't move. Ponyboy looked up at the switchblade in my hand and asked, "You gonna use that on your brother?"

I pulled out of my daze and dropped the switch to the floor. I jumped onto the bed and yelled, "Pony!" as I threw my arms around him and squeezed him tight. He was hugging me just as tightly.

I couldn't believe it. Ponyboy was actually back home! Gosh, I had missed him badly. At night there wasn't anything put my arm around in bed. I would have given anything for him to be next to me having a nightmare- needing me to protect him.

We sat up, and keeping an arm tight around him, I asked, "What are you doing back? Is Johnny here?"

He gazed down at his feet. "No. I don't know where Johnny is anymore. Dallas came and said that he had found a better place for Johnny to stay, but he brought me back since there was no use for me to hide from the police…" Pony looked up at me. His eyes were wide. "Soda, is Darry mad at me?"

I pulled him closer to me and told him softly, "No way. He's worried sick about you. All of us were… Two-Bit was all for going to Texas to look for you. Dally managed to talk him out of it though."

"Are you sure? I didn't mean to…" his words dropped away and I could tell he was fighting back tears.

"Don't worry about it. You're back home. Safe. That's all we cared about," I told him rubbing his hair. Even before I knew it, the words flew out of my mouth, "What happened to your tuff hair?"

Pony shook his head. "Johnny thought it would be a good idea to disguise ourselves. Cut my hair and bleached it…" he smiled slightly, "You oughta see his head. It looked like it got caught in a lawnmower or something."

I grinned, feeling for the first time in days like I had reason to. Pony looked over at the clock. "Man! I better go finish dinner. Darry should be home soon."

So he went into the kitchen and I sat down on the couch, closing my eyes for a quick nap. I hadn't slept since Pony left that night, and I was exhausted. But I knew that I could sleep easier now.

**Darry's POV**

It was almost six o'clock as I trudged up our porch and entered the house. It smelled like something was cooking. I was glad that I wouldn't have to make dinner, that I could just sit down and relax.

Soda was sprawled out on the couch- asleep. It was a good thing. He hadn't gotten much sleep since Pony ran out. But I also noticed that there was noise coming from the kitchen. Like somebody was walking around or something. I knew that it was probably only Steve or Two-Bit. But nobody's car was parked out front…

Getting suspicious, I decided to look in the kitchen to make sure. I wasn't prepared for what I saw. Some blonde-haired kid was standing there with his head turned away from me. But he heard my footsteps and turned to look at me.

"Pony?" I wondered out loud. Unconsciously, I was studying him. His clothes hung off of his skinnier body, and his hair was chopped short and bleached blonder than Soda's.

"Darry…" he mumbled, almost inaudibly. "I'm sorry," he turned his gaze to the floor. But I saw his shoulders shaking slightly.

I stepped closer to him and put my arms around him. Amazingly, he did the same to me. He was safe, and he really was back. Not able to fight back my tears, I too started crying. "Oh Pony, I thought you were gone… for good, like Mom and Dad."

The two of us just stood there, in the middle of the kitchen, holding onto each other, needing to know that the other actually was there- alive. Finally, after several moments, Soda cleared his throat from his position leaning against the doorframe. "I hate to break this little party up, but I'm starving and ya'll are blocking me from my dinner!"

Pony and I turned and smiled at him. Soda was grinning back at us. Pony wiped his eyes and told Soda, "Well, since you're in such a big hurry, you get to set the table!"

He pulled out the chicken from the oven, and soon we were all sitting down to dinner. I couldn't help but feel happy. Pony was back. Things might actually start getting better now.

**Pony's POV**

That night, I lay in my own real bed, with Soda next to me. His arm around me, holding me close to him. But I didn't mind. I was back home. To stay.

The peacefulness didn't last very long. In the middle of the night I awoke with a jerk. For a moment, in the darkness, I thought that I was still in the church with Johnny. But feeling Soda's arm still tightly around me, I slowly came to realization.

_I was back home, _I kept repeating in my mind over and over before I finally broke through the fog in my mind. Remembering what had awoken me, I knew that returning to sleep was not even a remote possibility.

I had had a nightmare. But not the usual dream that's been occurring since my parents' death. This one I remembered every detail very clearly. It was Johnny and I in the church. But it was on fire.

It wasn't the fire itself that scared me so badly, no; it was the fact that Johnny was trapped underneath a heavy piece of timber wood. I tried desperately to lift it up and free Johnny, but it was just too heavy. He was screaming for help, but suddenly somebody grabbed me from behind and started to drag me away from Johnny. And because I was so helpless, he caught on fire. And his screams stopped. Signaling that he was no longer alive.

With as badly as I was shivering, I knew that I would wake Soda up, so I carefully pried his arm away and snuck out of the room. Quietly shuffling down the hall to the living room, I looked and was surprised to see that there was no occupant on the couch. Which was extremely rare.

I sat down on the couch, and gazed out the window. It was still a little too early for the sun to be coming up, but I just needed something to look at. I sat there for several minutes. I was oblivious to the person entering the room from the hallway, until a voice asked, "Pony? What are you doing up?"

I jerked around to look up at Darry. Trying to conceal my heavily beating heart, I answered calmly, "Couldn't sleep."

He walked around and sat down beside me on the couch. "You didn't have one of those nightmares did you?" he asked sheepishly.

I shook my head. "No, it wasn't _that one_."

He sat there studying me for a while before questioning, "Then what was it?"

I wasn't feeling very comfortable right then. Even though I knew there was a change between Darry and me, I still couldn't help feeling awkward with him. Especially when we were having a deep discussion like this. Finally I replied, "It was just a dream."

"Well, it must have scared you awful otherwise you wouldn't be out here in the middle of the night," a new voice spoke. Soda came and sat on the arm of the couch beside me.

I looked up at him, "It was nothing. I just couldn't sleep anymore. No big deal."

"Pony," Darry spoke softly. Out of character for him. "You don't expect us to believe that you couldn't sleep. You look like you barely had any sleep this week. You're exhausted. There's no way that you 'couldn't sleep.' Now, what happened?"

We sat there in silence while I was contemplating everything. I finally gave in. "Johnny and I were hiding up at an abandoned church in Windrixville," I told them. Giving a little information about what had happened to me while I was gone. It wasn't too much in-depth, because I knew I couldn't talk about it without crying. Soda placed his hand on my shoulder, and I told them about my dream.

When I was finished, we sat there in silence once more. But it wasn't awkward anymore. It felt… right. Like there was nothing to worry about anymore. And so I sat there in the serenity with my brothers.

Nobody even knew it when the sun rose.

_It'll be probably on Monday or Tuesday when I update next. I have to go work all this weekend. I'll be back as soons as possible!_


	3. The Gang

**A/N: **_Hello all you wonderful people. Now I know that you all would like to chase after me with rocks for waiting this long to write. I know how crappy it is when a story doesn't get updated in like forever. But I will never completely forget this._

_But my reason is the fact that my computer crashed and burned and I lost all my documents, including this fic that was completely written up. We got a new computer, but then I kept going out of town, and then I started high school, so I've been a little preoccupied. It's a tad short, but I've updated, and I will again very soon. _

**Disclaimer: **Sometimes it feels like The Outsiders own _me_. Enough said?

**Two-Bit's POV**

I walked up the steps to the Curtis house Friday morning, expecting that the atmosphere would be the same as it has been the last week since Pony and Johnny went missing. Both of the Curtis brothers would be down and out, looking exhausted beyond their years.

But I was most definitely not prepared to walk in upon the scene that was currently taking place: Soda was scurrying around busily trying to get ready for work, Darry was in the kitchen whipping up some breakfast. But it was what –or who- was in the living room that made me speechless. Ponyboy Curtis.

Breaking out of my daze I charged at where he was sitting on the couch and then jumped on top of him. "Hey, hey, hey, Ponyboy!"

"Uh, hey Two-Bit…" his voice was muffled from under me, "Would you mind getting off of me so I can breathe?"

"Eh, why not?" and I plopped down next to him on the couch. He sat up and ran his hands over his hair, trying to get it back in place. Wait a second… "Pony, do you know you're hair's blonde?"

Pony gave me a look that clearly said he wanted me dead. "Yeah, Two-Bit. I think I did notice." The conversation would have been lengthened had one Soda not come in and exclaimed, "Hey Two-Bit!"

God, it sounded good to have that kid happy again. Even though his eyes still had rings around them, his smile actually reached his eyes. I grinned up at him and journeyed to the kitchen looking for a beer. And possibly some chocolate cake.

"Hey Darry. Are you willing to share some of that cake, or are you eating it yourself?" I asked as I popped the lid off my bottle. I reached over him and grabbed a slice for myself. Not even bothering with a plate.

I sat back down next to Pony and was about to take a bite of cake when the door slammed open and we all looked up to see Steve standing in the doorway. "Hey Stevie!" shouted Sodapop as he ran from the kitchen to his room.

"Hey Soda," he mumbled back. He looked over at Pony and gazed at him. "Well, look who just decided to appear out of nowhere… And with a wig on too!"

Pony gave him the same look he had given me only minutes before. He was about to respond when Soda came running back into the room. Soda dropped onto the armchair and started lacing his shoes.

Darry was leaning against the doorway to the kitchen and spoke to Pony. "Pony, you need to be careful out there. If anybody noticed that you were back in town, the Socs are going to be out hunting for you."

Ponyboy nodded but didn't speak. I looked over at him. "Ah, the kid can hang with me today. I ain't got nothing better to do. We don't have school."

Steve looked at me like I'm some type of idiot. "You know Two-Bit, you could always get a job. It's not like it would be a crime for you." And then under his breath he added, "Even though you break enough laws as it is."

"Oh, Steve. You're just jealous of me," I told him with a mocking laugh. "You chose to work on this free day and I get to roam the streets with my buddy Ponyboy."

Pony looked up at me suspiciously. "Why isn't there school today?"

I grinned so widely I thought my face would explode. "Cause the funeral for that Soc ya'll killed is today. So _of course_ they had to call school off. Would you expect it to be any other way?" The kid actually smiled at that.

"Soda, we need to get going or else we're going to be late," Darry stated as he made for the door, Steve and Soda following. "Remember what I told you Pony." And they were off with the roar of an engine.

**Pony's POV**

For the entire day that I was with Two-Bit, I was off somewhere completely different. I couldn't help but worry about Johnny. He was off hiding away who-knows-where with Dallas Winston.

And on top of that, I was worrying about myself. I was scared that the cops would catch me. Maybe somebody had seen me riding into town, and had called me into the police. They would ask me all sorts of questions that I couldn't answer without getting myself, Dally and Johnny all in trouble. More importantly, the State people might decide that it's not safe for me to live with Darry anymore and take me away to some Boys' Home.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I was barely aware of what Two-Bit was doing. I just followed him around the town. Eventually we did end up at the DX and got caught up talking to Soda and Steve.

I must have really been out of it because Soda looked at me wearily and asked, "Pony, you okay? You're looking pretty out of it…"

"Aw, he's been like that for most of the day!" Two-Bit told him. I just smiled half-heartedly and nodded. Soda still didn't look convinced, but let the matter drop.

Later that night, after we had eaten some dinner, we were all sprawled across the living room. Darry positioned in his armchair, Soda, Steve and Two-Bit playing cards on the floor, and I was laying on the couch reading. We all looked up when the door opened, and in the doorway stood Dally.

He glanced across the room and saw me, "Pony, I need to talk to you."

I got up, noticing the looks everybody was giving us and followed him out to the porch. He lit up a cancer stick and took a deep breath off of it before speaking, "I was thinking about it, and realized that the cops might come and question ya, so I came up with something for you to tell them."

He would never know how much weight was lifted from my chest when he said that. "I'm not saying that they'll find you or nothing, but if they do, just tell them that you and Johnny were walking down in Texas, and you decided to walk back home. And you have no idea where he is. It's truth enough."

I nodded at him, "All right… Uh, Dal," I looked at him sheepishly and asked, "You did get Johnny somewhere safe, right?"

Dallas grinned at me and rubbed his hand over my hair. "Shoot kid, I would never let nothing bad happen to Johnnycakes. You know that."

I grinned at him, "Yeah I do, Dal… thanks."

I walked inside and sat back down on the couch. Dally didn't come back in, but I knew that he would come around eventually.

I tried to concentrate on reading my book, but my mind was just wandering way too much for it. I had a story for the cops, but that didn't mean that the State would be happy about what happened.

I gave up on reading and went into my room. A couple of minutes later, Sodapop came in quietly.

**Soda's POV**

Pony and I were lying in the bed, but I knew that he wasn't asleep. He probably knew that I wasn't either, even though his back was to me.

"Soda?" he spoke softly.

"Yeah kid?" I had a feeling that we were going to be doing some heavy talking, and I was glad. He had seemed awful spacey today, even more so than usual.

"Do you- do you think the State's going to come take me away?" he was talking to the wall, so I sat up halfway and leaned back on my elbows so I could see him more clearly. He was staring straight ahead, as if he were looking at something only he could see.

"No way kiddo," I told him gently as I lay back down. I put a hand on his shoulder and tugged a bit so that he would lie on his back. "The State isn't going to be doing anything to us."

Pony turned his head so that he could look me in the face. "But how do you know they won't?"

"Because… Darry won't let them," I spoke as if it were the most obvious fact. I threw my arm across his chest and he moved closer to me. "You aren't going anywhere, Pony. You're staying right here with me."

_You all owe my best friend Vanna huge round of applause for making me write this. She's very supportive of me and my story. Reviews are greatly appreciated and I love you for them! See you next time, _

_Meghan_


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